Third Owner

The third owner was long time friends with the seller. Frank purchased the car in August, 1998. At that time, the car had 44,781 miles. He knew a lot of the history of the car first hand. At the time I purchased the car, he recounted the '82 fender bender independent of Rose's story I found out later.  

By 1998, the combination of the desert sun and lack of use caused the car to show some signs of exposure. Rose (the second owner) did not have the means or ability to freshen up the car. Frank on the other hand was a local mechanic and a huge car buff himself - he had the ability to bring this car back - not that it needed much.  He was very candid with me - he bought the car with the sole intention of selling it to help fund his '67 GTO Convertible restoration.

He had the car repainted and replaced interior pieces that had been damaged by the sun. It appears this was almost all of it except for the backseat side panels. He had planned to rebuild the motor, but after a basic tune-up found it to be in very good condition. He only replaced the timing chain and started driving. This was backed up when I rebuilt the motor and all the original GM part number, date stamped bearings & pistons were in place. I saved them for documentation purposes.  Other basic mechanicals were repaired or replaced as necessary (shocks, tires, brakes, A/C recharge, alternator, belts, etc.) No other extensive rebuilds or replacements were performed or necessary.

He drove it quite a bit and attended the 1999 Power Tour (I still have to scrape off  the sticker). I purchased the car in September 2000. By now, the car had 48,500 miles.